To determine the nature and content of data packets that traverse an access network, network providers often perform deep packet inspection (“DPI”) on these packets. In DPI, the data portion of inspected packets are analyzed at an inspection point to determine whether the packet may continue to its intended recipient or whether the packet should be rerouted to avert, for example, security, congestion, or network compatibility issues.
In legacy access networks, deep packet inspection and related functions, such as network analytics and security management, are performed by computationally robust devices that are typically located at the interface of the core network (e.g. the Internet) and the access network. These devices are often charged with performing DPI for each network flow associated with the access network, which may include flows associated with a bevy of smaller localized access networks, such as home, office, or other local area networks (LANs). Thus, in legacy access networks, these DPI-performing devices are necessarily computationally robust and, therefore, expensive. Thus, methods and apparatuses for distributed packet flow control in access networks are needed.